Drones, otherwise referred to as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are aircraft that are remotely piloted, eliminating the necessity for a pilot to get on board during a given flight. In civilian life, drones are a standard occurrence and rarely will every week pass before you set your eyes on one. In the armed services, there are many types of military drones in use. It is a quickly growing field of technology, and its impact on the world will likely still increase, whether we love it or not.
Drones have an array of applications starting from being mere hobby gadgets, to their increased use in aerial photography and cinematography, to intelligence, mapping, reconnaissance, rescue missions, and targeting destinations.
However, it’s their use in military operations that are of interest to us today. As a matter of fact, drone technology started within the military and nowadays there are several sorts of military drones that will blow your mind. In this article, we’ll provide an overview of this area of drone technology.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) commonly mentioned as drones became the weapon of choice in modern warfare, with both state and non-state entities employing them. The rise of drones to indispensability is unsurprising, given their high level of effectiveness, relatively low price tag, and a high degree of deniability they supply on the battlefield.
India too is getting to import drones that haven’t just Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities but also drones that will perform precision strikes on enemy targets with standoff missiles.
Existing Technologies
Many of the technology areas below that have already been developed will witness sustained innovation based on the growth of the military UAV industry during the forecast period.
- RADAR/LiDar
2. Wireless/Cellular Communications
3. Optoelectronics
4. Photonics
5. Actuators/Connectors
6. Satellite Communications
7. Inertial Navigation System
8. Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
9. Global Navigation Satellite System
10. Gallium arsenide (GaAs) Solar Cells
Emerging Technologies
For the military UAV industry, Infrared Thermography (IRT) and Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) are two major technology areas of focus.
- Infrared Thermography (IRT): For years, IRT has been utilized in a spread of industries. Recent advances in advanced thermal imaging cameras, on the opposite hand, use focal plane arrays (FPAs) that use uncooled microbolometers as FPA sensors. IRT has long been utilized in military applications.
- Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI): HSI may be a new area during which the benefits of optical spectroscopy as an analytical instrument are combined with optical imaging’s two-dimensional object visualisation.
Designs for possible future drone technologies held by patent holders may influence how military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are utilized in the longer term. There are a couple of developments that would lay the groundwork for expanding and reworking military UAV technology in the future. Some of these are:
1. Artificial Intelligence-powered UAVs
Improved ability to recognise and answer their environment would undoubtedly be a key feature of future military UAVs. If we would like to trust them to fly autonomously, we’ll get to develop AI systems like Computer Vision and Motion getting to help them do so. And it’s starting to happen.
2. Perching and Resting
By saving battery power Perching helps small UAVs extend their time of operation. In addition to the perching capability, researchers are working to create UAVs that will make and stabilise contacts with the environment, allowing the UAV to use less energy while maintaining its altitude.
3. Submersible UAV
Engineers at John Hopkins University are designing a submersible UAV that can be launched from an underwater station or unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), which can float to the surface from depths of hundreds of feet. It can stay inactive when not in use even under a murky environment.
4. Airborne Communication Nodes
Aside from being sensor and shooter platforms, UAVs also can act as airborne communications nodes, almost like satellites, offering mobile network coverage for manoeuvring forces. This frees up manned systems to specialise in higher-value missions while still providing an economical thanks to maintaining secure communications.
UAVs will follow the paradigm change toward a network-centric warfare concept, seamlessly integrating into all three main areas of defence systems: sensor, shooter, and C2 network. By providing platforms for deploying sensors, weapons, and communications architecture, UAVs can enable the force commander to ascertain first, understand first, act first, and finish decisively.
5. Battery Technology
Military UAVs can gain new value because of rapid advancements in battery technology.
Lithium-ion batteries’ energy density is increasing by 5 to 7 per cent annually, and their lifetime is predicted to double within the next five years. Small military UAVs are going to be ready to fly for quite an hour without recharging as a result of these advancements, allowing a good range of the latest applications.
The nature of strike and reconnaissance operations involving UAVs also will undergo some changes in the future. If there’s one lesson to be learned from Turkey’s UAV activity in Syria, it’s that costly UAVs/drones just like the Anka or Orion shouldn’t be used for support because they’re expensive, don’t carry enough weapons, and are easy targets. Instead, we believe it might be more prudent to arm the massive, heavy drones and have them fly at higher, safer altitudes, while smaller drones fly at lower altitudes checking out targets and attracting forest fire for the higher-flying drones to detect then aim within the future.
Small assault drones might be carried by the high-flying drones and released for a better look and direct attack. However, we believe that a ball turret with optics and sensors to direct their command guided missiles would be suitable in most cases, as a high-altitude launch would give them excellent performance against just about any target, no matter camouflage.
Military spending on UAV technology is predicted to rise as a fraction of serious military budgets, like the US defence budget and China’s defence budget, providing enormous potential for specialised drone manufacturers and software developers. While drones will never totally replace soldiers, within the current strategic atmosphere, this question is becoming less relevant.
